Senate Governmental Reform Committee ranking Democrat Lieberman (Conn.) and Sen. Brownback (R-Kan.) are crafting legislation that they hope will lead to a “permanent stream of funding” for research into the impact of electronic media on children. The bill specifically would create a new unit at the National Institutes of Health to determine how media consumption could be detrimental -- as well as beneficial -- to childhood development, they announced Wed. at a Children’s Digital Media Center news conference at the National Press Club.

The House Telecom Subcommittee Wed. approved an amended bill by Subcommittee Chairman Upton (R-Mich.) that would create a trust fund from auctioned spectrum to reimburse federal agencies that vacated spectrum. Upton told reporters after the markup that, based on the support of the Bush Administration, “I'm pretty encouraged by the prospects of this bill.” He said Commerce Committee members would rally together to ensure the bill’s passage, given likely opposition by appropriators. He said he had recently discussed the legislation with Senate Communications Subcommittee Chmn. Burns (R-Mont.) and was confident the Senate would act as well.

LAS VEGAS -- Several members of Congress at the NAB convention here expressed skepticism about a “hard date” for TV broadcasters to convert to a digital signal. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chmn. Burns (R-Mont.) said the cost of conversion for rural stations was about equal to the cost of conversion for urban stations, but smaller advertising revenue made it much harder to switch. “I'm not one that sees a hard date for conversion,” he said.

LAS VEGAS -- TV broadcasters should move away from the “conventional wisdom” used in the past in their management decisions and recognize today’s new media climate, USA Interactive Chmn. Barry Diller said. As keynoter at the NAB convention here Mon., he said: “Conventional wisdom throughout the whole media industry today is that consolidation is the only way and that deregulation must follow shortly” -- and he said that was wrong. The public interest mandate, Diller said, is still alive and FCC should provide a “well-reasoned document with practical and meaningful consequences.”

Official sales data for Game Boy Advance (GBA) SP handheld remained unavailable from Nintendo of America (NOA) and Nintendo of Europe (NOE) at our Thurs. deadline. But NOE spokeswoman told Consumer Electronics Daily “I anticipate there will be [official sales figures] soon” for at least that market. GBA SP machine went on sale in N. America March 23 and in Europe March 28 and early word from retailers was there wasn’t enough supply to equal demand.

The FCC sought a U.S. Supreme Court review of an 8th U.S. Appeals Court, St Louis, ruling that overturned its order declining to preempt a Mo. statute barring municipal provision of telecom services. In a petition for certiorari, the Commission said the U, S. Appeals Court, D.C., in City of Abilene (Tex.) v. FCC, had ruled in favor of the Commission’s position and as a result of the 2 decisions, “the Commission must follow conflicting decisions of 2 courts.” It said the questions at issue in the cases could be expected to be raised again because several states had statutes similar to the Mo. law and could be subject to attack under Sec. 2539(a) of the Telecom Act, and still others could enact such laws. The Mo. Attorney Gen. already has filed a petition for certiorari (CD Feb 24 p7).

DirecTV told FCC it needed to expedite its ruling on whether EchoStar’s 2-dish plan was consistent with Communications Act and Commission rules. DirecTV said it was providing core programming with single-dish antenna, but situation was “grossly unfair and places DirecTV at a significant competitive disadvantage.” If EchoStar’s 2-dish plan is compliant with Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA), then DirecTV “should be afforded the same opportunity” to use 2-dish solution, it said. Company said it chose “not to push the limits of the law,” but single-dish plan was “accomplished at a cost to spectrum efficiency and expanded local-into-local service.” DirecTV said EchoStar had told Commission in past that its 2-dish plan was only temporary solution, but it still was being implemented in new markets, legitimately raising fear that temporary solution might become permanent. FCC’s DBS auction set for Aug. 6 was another reason to expedite decision, DirecTV said. Ruling either way “will directly affect the value of these frequencies at auction, as well as the degree of participation by interested parties,” DirecTV said.

Sprint and Telecommunications for the Deaf Inc. (TDI) filed separate oppositions at the FCC to an AT&T Wireless petition for reconsideration that challenged a sunset period for the cellular analog requirement. AT&T Wireless had petitioned the FCC in Jan. for reconsideration of part of an order that allowed a phase-out of its cellular analog requirement within 5 years. AT&T sought a sunset period of not longer than 30 months. The Commission adopted the order last year and updated several areas of cellular wireless regulation that had dated to the duopoly era of cellphone service. Sprint told the FCC that AT&T Wireless “presents no new facts” to contradict the agency’s initial determination that a 5-year transition period was adequate. The carrier said analog, or Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), still was the dominant technology for roaming, mainly because such systems “provide more than twice the geographic coverage of any other mobile air interface standard.” Sprint said it had moved quickly to build out its digital network in the last 7 years, but used analog roaming to provide near ubiquitous coverage to subscribers. It also cited the reliance of telematics systems on AMPS and the extent to which many digital mobile handsets now available interfered with hearing aids. TDI also urged the FCC to keep the 5-year transition period. It said most digital phones now caused interference to the majority of hearing aids and cochlear implants. It said analog cellular service, unlike its digital counterpart, supported TTY features for persons with hearing or speech disabilities. Both Sprint and TDI disagreed with the biennial review issue AT&T raised, which was that because of the extent of wireless competition, Sec. 11 of the Communications Act didn’t provide a basis for retaining the analog requirement for 5 years. Sec. 11 covers the Commission’s biennial review obligations, including determinations of whether rules no longer are necessary in the public interest as a result of meaningful competition. TDI said the FCC’s “analysis under Section 11 does not end with a determination that meaningful economic competition exists, as AT&T Wireless claims. Rather, the analysis must also include a determination whether a rule remains necessary in the public interest.”

RIAA intends to issue “very substantial number” of subpoenas in next 6 months seeking private ISP subscriber information under Sec. 512(h) of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), one of its attorneys said Tues.

Taking advantage of the telecom meltdown and the slackening of private sector investments, a significant number of municipalities are exploring options for entering the telecom and broadband business, but are meeting with stiff opposition from the private sector at the local level, city officials and lawyers said. The latest example, they said, was the battle being waged in the tri-cities of Geneva, Batavia and St. Charles in Ill. over the cities’ proposal to provide joint broadband services in competition to Comcast and SBC.